


What We Have To Give

by darknessdistraction



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Comfort, Emotional Baggage, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Insomnia, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Meera Ships It, Shyness, Supportive Meera Reed, Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26779705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darknessdistraction/pseuds/darknessdistraction
Summary: Greensight and warging are not for granted, and it takes their tolls. Jojen doesn't sleep, and Bran doesn't feel. But they try their best to make it up.---Attention - This is not smut or anything like that AT ALL. Those are just two lost boys who I KNOW have a crush on each other even if the show tried to convince us otherwise. It is all cute and subtle and innocent, okay.
Relationships: Jojen Reed/Bran Stark
Kudos: 16





	What We Have To Give

"I'll keep the first watch", Meera said when they had settled down between some oaks and managed to light a fire.

Bran noticed a nervous twitch in her eye as he tried to make himself comfortable in his furs. Jojen must've seen it too, because he shook his head and gave her a stern look. "No, you look really tired. You need to get some sleep."

Meera faked a laugh but it was only a dry screech that came out of her throat. "Well, so do you. We've been walking around in this knee-deep snow all day, I don't need you to get a seizure."

This was reasonable, and so Bran decided to speak up before the siblings could start to fight. "I'm gonna keep the first watch. I can wake you up later, Meera."

Both of them glanced at him silently.

He cleared his throat, getting uncomfortable under their eyes. "If you don't remember, my legs are broken anyways. I didn't walk through knee-deep snow, mostly because I can't, and I won't do it tomorrow. I will stay awake."

Both Jojen and Meera seemed to be okay with it. Meera made sure he'd really wake her up, then she settled down and closed her eyes. Soon Bran could see her chest going up and down in a steady flow.

He stared into the fire, focusing on the forest noises. There hadn't been any signs of wildlings or wights for several days, and Bran slowly started to develop a feeling of security.

His thoughts, though, were all about what he had said about not walking and not doing something. This was in fact what he felt like the whole time: Not doing anything.

He knew, of course, what Jojen told him about his role and how important he'd be in defeating the White Walkers. How he was the only thing that really mattered in this war, and how his sight could change so much. But he didn't feel it at all. In the end, everything he ever did was being carried and dragged around the snow by his friends because he couldn't walk on his own, and he also didn't fight for or protect anyone.

He wasn't the man his father would've wanted him to be.

"Are you okay?"

Bran flinched and groped for the dagger at his side before he understood that it was Jojen.

The other boy sat up, slipped closer to the fire and brushed his fingers through his hair nervously. Bran watched the flames lighting one side of his friend's face while the other one remained black. It was fascinating in a weird kind of way.

Bran nearly forgot that Jojen had asked something when he noticed his friend's expectant look.  
"Yes, everything good", he said, not even sure if he wanted to calm Jojen down or himself. "I was just thinking."

Jojen reached out for a twig and threw it into the fire. It flared and the boys watched the sparks fly into the blackness.

Of course, he asked what Bran was thinking about, but his friend didn't have the intention to tell him or anybody else. Instead, Bran decided to ask for the obvious.

"Why don't you sleep?"

Jojen sighed and turned his face away so Bran couldn't see his eyes anymore. "Sometimes I just don't sleep. My head won't let me. I think, it comes with the sight. You know, the visions take their toll. Like my seizures and maybe the insomnia. And whatever it is for you."

Emotional distance, Bran thought, but he didn't say it out loud. He remembered being passionate as a child, feeling intense love for his hobbies and caring deeply about his family.

But the stronger his powers got, the more distant he felt from everything around him. The wights didn't even worry him as much as they probably should. He just did this journey because someone told him that he had to. Most of the time he felt like Jojen was the only one who made him feel something at all. He was just really convincing and smart.

Now that Jojen had opened up about his sleep, Bran felt like he had to confess too.

"I am thinking a lot about...how all of this started. When I was still a little boy, and then suddenly Meera and you showed up and told me all those crazy things, and I started seeing."

Jojen faced him and Bran tried his best to keep looking on the other boy's eyes instead of his crooked smile. He failed in a great way, like he always did.

"You know what",Jojen spoke up. "When I first saw you, I thought you were a girl."

Bran's chin fell down to his chest, his brain not really able to process the new information. That was, actually, something that happened quite rarely to him considering the newfound powers, but Jojen always managed to get him at a point where he couldn't even talk.

But maybe that was what best friends were for. Testing limits.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure. There must've been something feminine in your face. Maybe the hair, too."

Bran furrowed his brow at his friend who still tried to not burst into laughter. "I am sorry, but my hair has the perfect length."

"Yes, it seems like hair is very important growing up in Winterfell."

Bran simply ignored this take even if he knew what Jojen was talking about. His brothers had always been weirdly obsessed with their hair, especially Jon.

He glanced at Jojen's hair, just to make sure if he could say anything cheeky about it in return, but it was perfect just as Meera's. The North seemed to have a thing for nice hair in general.

Still, he wasn't satisfied with Jojen assuming he was a girl. It hurted him, way more like he wanted to confess. It reminded him of the man he had looked forwarded to be as a child, when he still practiced archery and riding, and how he was never going to be like that.

"Do you think I'd look better having short hair?"

Jojen laughed, throwing his head back, and Bran couldn't help but thinking it was cute. All of this time, with all the seizures and creatures and deaths, Jojen had still kept the perfect balance between jokes and serious guidance. A blessing, he thought to himself.

"No, I don't", Jojen stated. "As you already said, it has the perfect length. Also, I am quite happy that you're a guy, so it's alright."

Bran pulled the furs over his shoulders and tried to drag himself closer to the fire. As long he had been a child, he had always been convinced of himself being a fan of the cold. Now that winter was coming and they were beyond the wall, it turned out he hadn't even known the meaning of "cold".

"Are you freezing?"

Jojen's voice took him back to reality. "No", Bran answered a little to quick. His friend stared at him suspiciously, waiting for Bran to tell the truth, and the latter decided to change the topic.

"So, why are you happy? That I am a guy, I mean."

Jojen's wry smile faded. "There are bad things happening to girls in this world. You may know about the risks of being a female."

Bran's first thought was Meera and how she had been harrassed at Craster's. It had killed him on the inside, seeing those disgusting men laying a finger on her, and what they said, god, what they said. He didn't even want to think about how Meera must've felt in this situation. He glanced at the girl, but she was sleeping so peacefully that the worries didn't last long.

His second thought was how Jojen mentioned he was happy that Bran himself wasn't endangered by such men. He obviously cared deeply about him, and it increased Bran's awareness of how blessed he was by calling Jojen his best friend.

Still, there was one thing.

"So, you assume men are safe from being hurt?", he shot back, pointing towards his legs. "I am literally crippled, Jojen. I am completely worthless in this world of knights and-"

Jojen was on his feet way faster than Bran could say "what". Clenched hands and the expression in his face were screaming "Are you crazy", but Bran didn't really get why. He had always been a little bad at understanding other people's feelings, or even worse, his own.

"Don't you dare say that you are worthless", Jojen hissed and Bran was quite sure that he would've yelled if it wasn't for Meera's light sleep. "You are the most powerful warg I've seen in my life. You are the Lord of Winterfell! You deserve everything this world has to give and more!"

Bran smiled mildly, completely ignoring the compliment. "I am no Lord. The Boltons-"

"Fuck the Boltons!"

Bran flinched. Jojen had never seemed the kind of guy who used bad words or even knew what they meant. People like the Lannisters or even Theon, yes, of course, but Jojen? He always used kind, serious words with the experienced gravity of a person way older than eighteen.

"I don't care about the Boltons", Jojen repeated, carefully lowering his voice. "You are my Lord. Also, I doubt that the Dead will care about a thing like lords and ladies and money when they come. You are the only one who can stop them, if you haven't understood it at that point."

He cleared his throat and Jojen slowly got back into a sitting position, obviously embarrassed about his freakout.

"So this is what you think I am?", Bran asked. "The key to your survival?"

Jojen shook his head, muttering something to himself that Bran couldn't hear, then answered: "Of course not. You are my best friend."

His voice was warm and placatory, and it covered Bran like a soft blanket. Immediately, the boy felt his muscles relaxing and answered with a simple nod. He had never been a person who cared deeply about the approval and affirmations of other people, and he wasn't sure why it was so important to him what Jojen thought.

"Go to sleep", Bran proposed. "This was a long day."

Jojen smiled wryly, pointing towards his head. "Insomnia. Have you already forgotten about it, Brandon?"

"I haven't."

"Well, then."

Bran strongly felt like he had to get Jojen to bed. On the one hand because his friend looked so tired he barely kept his eyes open. On the other hand because Bran needed some alone-time to process everything that had just happened. He had never seen Jojen raging like that.

"At least try it", he said. "Or else I'll wake Meera up."

Jojen groaned as he flopped down onto his back.

"From what I know about her, she would just punch my face in annoyance because unconciousness is just as helpful as sleep."

Bran laughed, even if they both knew Meera would never punch her brother. The laughter felt chilling in his throat, like fresh water running down dried skin.

"I'll try", Jojen gave in. "But if I can't do it, I'll just stay awake and you can get some sleep, okay?"

Still smiling, Bran nodded and watched his friend getting comfortable. Jojen rolled his eyes at his friend's expectant face, then closed them and pulled his fur up to his chin.

Bran's eyes lingered on Jojen's face the whole night.


End file.
